Compounds

ABSTRACT

The invention provides Response Regulator polypeptides and DNA (RNA) encoding Response Regulator polypetides and methods for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques. Also provided are methods for utilizing Response Regulator polypeptides to screen for antibacterial compounds.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/850,117 filed May 1, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,286.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit to GB application number 9609020.4, filed May 1, 1996.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to newly identified polynucleotides and polypeptides, and their production and uses, as well as their variants, agonists and antagonists, and their uses. In particular, in these and in other regards, the invention relates to novel polynucleotides and polypeptides of the response regulator family, hereinafter referred to as "Response Regulator".

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Streptococci make up a medically important genera of microbes known to cause several types of disease in humans, including, for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid. Since its isolation more than 100 years ago, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been one of the more intensively studied microbes. For example, much of our early understanding that DNA is, in fact, the genetic material was predicated on the work of Griffith and of Avery, Macleod and McCarty using this microbe. Despite the vast amount of research with S. pneumoniae, many questions concerning the virulence of this microbe remain. It is particularly preferred to employ Streptococcal genes and gene products as targets for the development of antibiotics.

The frequency of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections has risen dramatically in the past 20 years. This has been attributed to the emergence of multiply antibiotic resistant strains and an increasing population of people with weakened immune systems. It is no longer uncommon to isolate Streptococcus pneumoniae strains which are resistant to some or all of the standard antibiotics. This has created a demand for both new anti-microbial agents and diagnostic tests for this organism.

While certain Streptococcal factors associated with pathogenicity have been identified, e.g., capsule polysaccharides, peptidoglycans, pneumolysins, PspA Complement factor H binding component, autolysin, neuraminidase, peptide permeases, hydrogen peroxide, IgA1 protease, the list is certainly not complete. Further very little is known concerning the temporal expression of such genes during infection and disease progression in a mammalian host. Discovering the sets of genes the bacterium is likely to be expressing at the different stages of infection, particularly when an infection is established, provides critical information for the screening and characterization of novel antibacterials which can interrupt pathogenesis. In addition to providing a fuller understanding of known proteins, such an approach will identify previously unrecognised targets.

Many two component signal transduction systems (TCSTS) have been identified in bacteria (Stock, J. B., Ninfa, A. J. & Stock, A. M. (1989) Microbiol. Rev. 53, 450-490). These are involved in the bacterium's ability to monitor its surroundings and adapt to changes in its environment. Several of these bacterial TCSTS are involved in virulence and bacterial pathogenesis within the host.

Response regulators are components of the TCSTS. These proteins are phosphorylated by histidine kinases and in turn once phosphorylated effect the response, often through a DNA binding domain becoming activated. The response regulators are characterized by a conserved N-terminal domain of approximately 100 amino acids. The N-terminal domains of response regulators as well as retaining five functionally important residues, corresponding to the residues D12, D13, D57, T87, K109 in CheY (Matsumura, P., Rydel, J. J., Linzmeier, R. & Vacante, D. (1984) J. Bacteriol. 160, 36-41), have conserved structural features (Volz, K. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 11741-11753). The 3-dimensional structures of CheY from Salmonella typhimurium (Stock, A. M., Mottonen, J. M., Stock, J. B. & Schutt, C. E. (1989) Nature, 337, 745-749) and Escherichia coli (Volz, K. & Matsumura, P. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 15511-15519) and the N-terminal domain of nitrogen regulatory protein C from S. typhimurium (Volkman, B. F., Nohaile, M. J., Amy, N. K., Kustu, S. & Wemmer, D. E. (1995) Biochemistry, 34 1413-1424), are available, as well as the secondary structure of SpoOF from Bacillus subtilis (Feher, V. A., Zapf, J. W., Hoch, J. A., Dahlquist, F. W., Whiteley, J. M. & Cavanagh, J. (1995) Protein Science, 4, 1801-1814). These structures have a (a/b)5 fold. Several structural residues are conserved between different response regulator sequences, specifically hydrophobic residues within the β-sheet hydrophobic core and sites from the a-helices. This family of response regulators includes DegU from Bacillus subtilis which is part of the TCSTS involved in the production of extracellular proteases (Henner, D. J., Yang, M. & Ferrari, E. (1988) J. Bacteriol. 170, 5102-5109).

Histidine kinases are components of the TCSTS which autophosphorylate a histidine residue. The phosphate group is then transferred to the cognate response regulator. The Histidine kinases have five short conserved amino acid sequences (Stock, J. B., Ninfa, A. J. & Stock, A. M. (1989) Microbiol. Rev. 53, 450-490, Swanson, R. V., Alex, L. A. & Simon, M. I. (1994) TIBS 19 485-491). These are the histidine residue, which is phosphorylated, followed after approximately 100 residues by a conserved asparagine residue. After another 15 to 45 residues a DXGXG motif is found, followed by a FXXF motif after another 10-20 residues. 10-20 residues further on another glycine motif, GXG is found. The two glycine motifs are thought to be involved in nucleotide binding.

Among the processes regulated by TCSTS are production of virulence factors, motility, antibiotic resistance and cell replication. Inhibitors of TCSTS proteins would prevent the bacterium from establishing and maintaining infection of the host by preventing it from producing the necessary factors for pathogenesis and thereby have utility in antibacterial therapy.

Clearly, there is a need for factors, such as the novel compounds of the invention, that have a present benefit of being useful to screen compounds for antibiotic activity. Such factors are also useful to determine their role in pathogenesis of infection, dysfunction and disease. There is also a need for identification and characterization of such factors and their antagonists and agonists which can play a role in preventing, ameliorating or correcting infections, dysfunctions or diseases.

The polypeptides of the invention have amino acid sequence homology to a known Bacillus subtilis DegU protein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide polypeptides that have been identified as novel Response Regulator polypeptides by homology between the amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NO: 2! and a known amino acid sequence or sequences of other proteins such as Bacillus subtilis DegU protein.

It is a further object of the invention to provide polynucleotides that encode Response Regulator polypeptides, particularly polynucleotides that encode the polypeptide herein designated Response Regulator.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the polynucleotide comprises a region encoding Response Regulator polypeptides comprising the sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NO:1! which includes a full length gene, or a variant thereof.

In another particularly preferred embodiment of the invention there is a novel Response Regulator protein from Streptococcus pneumoniae comprising the amino acid sequence of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2!, or a variant thereof.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a mature polypeptide expressible by the Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain contained in the deposited strain.

A further aspect of the invention there are provided isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding Response Regulator, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae Response Regulator, including mRNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNAs. Further embodiments of the invention include biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeutically useful variants thereof, and compositions comprising the same.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided the use of a polynucleotide of the invention for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, in particular genetic immunization. Among the particularly preferred embodiments of the invention are naturally occurring allelic variants of Response Regulator and polypeptides encoded thereby.

Another aspect of the invention there are provided novel polypeptides of Streptococcus pneumoniae referred to herein as Response Regulator as well as biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeutically useful variants thereof, and compositions comprising the same.

Among the particularly preferred embodiments of the invention are variants of Response Regulator polypeptide encoded by naturally occurring alleles of the Response Regulator gene.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention there are provided methods for producing the aforementioned Response Regulator polypeptides.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there are provided inhibitors to such polypeptides, useful as antibacterial agents, including, for example, antibodies.

In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of the invention, there are provided products, compositions and methods for assessing Response Regulator expression, treating disease, for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid, assaying genetic variation, and administering a Response Regulator polypeptide or polynucleotide to an organism to raise an immunological response against a bacteria, especially a Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.

In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of this and other aspects of the invention there are provided polynucleotides that hybridize to Response Regulator polynucleotide sequences, particularly under stringent conditions.

In certain preferred embodiments of the invention there are provided antibodies against Response Regulator polypeptides.

In other embodiments of the invention there are provided methods for identifying compounds which bind to or otherwise interact with and inhibit or activate an activity of a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the invention comprising: contacting a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the invention with a compound to be screened under conditions to permit binding to or other interaction between the compound and the polypeptide or polynucleotide to assess the binding to or other interaction with the compound, such binding or interaction being associated with a second component capable of providing a detectable signal in response to the binding or interaction of the polypeptide or polynucleotide with the compound; and determining whether the compound binds to or otherwise interacts with and activates or inhibits an activity of the polypetide or polynucleotide by detecting the presence or absence of a signal generated from the binding or interaction of the compound with the polypeptide or polynucleotide.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there are provided Response Regulator agonists and antagonists, preferably bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal agonists and antagonists.

In a further aspect of the invention there are provided compositions comprising a Response Regulator polynucleotide or a Response Regulator polypeptide for administration to a cell or to a multicellular organism.

Various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosed invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following descriptions and from reading the other parts of the present disclosure.

GLOSSARY

The following definitions are provided to facilitate understanding of certain terms used frequently herein.

"Host cell" is a cell which has been transformed or transfected, or is capable of transformation or transfection by an exogenous polynucleotide sequence.

"Identity," as known in the art, is a relationship between two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more polynucleotide sequences, as determined by comparing the sequences. In the art, "identity" also means the degree of sequence relatedness between polypeptide or polynucleotide sequences, as the case may be, as determined by the match between strings of such sequences. "Identity" and "similarity" can be readily calculated by known methods, including but not limited to those described in (Computational Molecular Biology, Lesk, A. M., ed., Oxford University Press, New York, 1988; Biocomputing: Informatics and Genome Projects, Smith, D. W., ed., Academic Press, New York, 1993; Computer Analysis of Sequence Data, Part I, Griffin, A. M., and Griffin, H. G., eds., Humana Press, New Jersey, 1994; Sequence Analysis in Molecular Biology, von Heinje, G., Academic Press, 1987; and Sequence Analysis Primer, Gribskov, M. and Devereux, J., eds., M Stockton Press, New York, 1991; and Carillo, H., and Lipman, D., SIAM J. Applied Math., 48: 1073 (1988). Preferred methods to determine identity are designed to give the largest match between the sequences tested. Methods to determine identity and similarity are codified in publicly available computer programs. Preferred computer program methods to determine identity and similarity between two sequences include, but are not limited to, the GCG program package (Devereux, J., et al., Nucleic Acids Research 12(1): 387 (1984)), BLASTP, BLASTN, and FASTA (Atschul, S. F. et al., J. Molec. Biol. 215: 403-410 (1990). The BLAST X program is publicly available from NCBI and other sources (BLAST Manual, Altschul, S., et al., NCBI NLM NIH Bethesda, Md. 20894; Altschul, S., et al., J. Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410 (1990). As an illustration, by a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence having at least, for example, 95% "identity" to a reference nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 it is intended that the nucleotide sequence of the polynucleotide is identical to the reference sequence except that the polynucleotide sequence may include up to five point mutations per each 100 nucleotides of the reference nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. In other words, to obtain a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence at least 95% identical to a reference nucleotide sequence, up to 5% of the nucleotides in the reference sequence may be deleted or substituted with another nucleotide, or a number of nucleotides up to 5% of the total nucleotides in the reference sequence may be inserted into the reference sequence. These mutations of the reference sequence may occur at the 5 or 3 terminal positions of the reference nucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among nucleotides in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence. Analogously, by a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence having at least, for example, 95% identity to a reference amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 is intended that the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide is identical to the reference sequence except that the polypeptide sequence may include up to five amino acid alterations per each 100 amino acids of the reference amino acid of SEQ ID NO: 2. In other words, to obtain a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least 95% identical to a reference amino acid sequence, up to 5% of the amino acid residues in the reference sequence may be deleted or substituted with another amino acid, or a number of amino acids up to 5% of the total amino acid residues in the reference sequence may be inserted into the reference sequence. These alterations of the reference sequence may occur at the amino or carboxy terminal positions of the reference amino acid sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among residues in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence.

"Isolated" means altered "by the hand of man" from its natural state, i.e., if it occurs in nature, it has been changed or removed from its original environment, or both. For example, a polynucleotide or a polypeptide naturally present in a living organism is not "isolated," but the same polynucleotide or polypeptide separated from the coexisting materials of its natural state is "isolated", as the term is employed herein.

"Polynucleotide(s)" generally refers to any polyribonucleotide or polydeoxribonucleotide, which may be unmodified RNA or DNA or modified RNA or DNA. "Polynucleotide(s)" include, without limitation, single- and double-stranded DNA, DNA that is a mixture of single- and double-stranded regions or single-, double- and triple-stranded regions, single- and double-stranded RNA, and RNA that is mixture of single- and double-stranded regions, hybrid molecules comprising DNA and RNA that may be single-stranded or, more typically, double-stranded, or triple-stranded regions, or a mixture of single- and double-stranded regions. In addition, "polynucleotide" as used herein refers to triple-stranded regions comprising RNA or DNA or both RNA and DNA. The strands in such regions may be from the same molecule or from different molecules. The regions may include all of one or more of the molecules, but more typically involve only a region of some of the molecules. One of the molecules of a triple-helical region often is an oligonucleotide. As used herein, the term "polynucleotide(s)" also includes DNAs or RNAs as described above that contain one or more modified bases. Thus, DNAs or RNAs with backbones modified for stability or for other reasons are "polynucleotide(s)" as that term is intended herein. Moreover, DNAs or RNAs comprising unusual bases, such as inosine, or modified bases, such as tritylated bases, to name just two examples, are polynucleotides as the term is used herein. It will be appreciated that a great variety of modifications have been made to DNA and RNA that serve many useful purposes known to those of skill in the art. The term "polynucleotide(s)" as it is employed herein embraces such chemically, enzymatically or metabolically modified forms of polynucleotides, as well as the chemical forms of DNA and RNA characteristic of viruses and cells, including, for example, simple and complex cells. "Polynucleotide(s)" also embraces short polynucleotides often referred to as oligonucleotide(s).

"Polypeptide(s)" refers to any peptide or protein comprising two or more amino acids joined to each other by peptide bonds or modified peptide bonds. "Polypeptide(s)" refers to both short chains, commonly referred to as peptides, oligopeptides and oligomers and to longer chains generally referred to as proteins. Polypeptides may contain amino acids other than the 20 gene encoded amino acids. "Polypeptide(s)" include those modified either by natural processes, such as processing and other post-translational modifications, but also by chemical modification techniques. Such modifications are well described in basic texts and in more detailed monographs, as well as in a voluminous research literature, and they are well known to those of skill in the art. It will be appreciated that the same type of modification may be present in the same or varying degree at several sites in a given polypeptide. Also, a given polypeptide may contain many types of modifications. Modifications can occur anywhere in a polypeptide, including the peptide backbone, the amino acid side-chains, and the amino or carboxyl termini. Modifications include, for example, acetylation, acylation, ADP-ribosylation, amidation, covalent attachment of flavin, covalent attachment of a heme moiety, covalent attachment of a nucleotide or nucleotide derivative, covalent attachment of a lipid or lipid derivative, covalent attachment of phosphotidylinositol, cross-linking, cyclization, disulfide bond formation, demethylation, formation of covalent cross-links, formation of cysteine, formation of pyroglutamate, formylation, gamma-carboxylation, glycosylation, GPI anchor formation, hydroxylation, iodination, methylation, myristoylation, oxidation, proteolytic processing, phosphorylation, prenylation, racemization, glycosylation, lipid attachment, sulfation, gamma-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues, hydroxylation and ADP-ribosylation, selenoylation, sulfation, transfer-RNA mediated addition of amino acids to proteins, such as arginylation, and ubiquitination. See, for instance, PROTEINS--STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR PROPERTIES, 2nd Ed., T. E. Creighton, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York (1993) and Wold, F., Posttranslational Protein Modifications: Perspectives and Prospects, pgs. 1-12 in POSTTRANSLATIONAL COVALENT MODIFICATION OF PROTEINS, B. C. Johnson, Ed., Academic Press, New York (1983); Seifter et al., Meth. Enzymol. 182:626-646 (1990) and Rattan et al., Protein Synthesis: Posttranslational Modifications and Aging, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 663: 48-62 (1992). Polypeptides may be branched or cyclic, with or without branching. Cyclic, branched and branched circular polypeptides may result from post-translational natural processes and may be made by entirely synthetic methods, as well.

"Variant(s)" as the term is used herein, is a polynucleotide or polypeptide that differs from a reference polynucleotide or polypeptide respectively, but retains essential properties. A typical variant of a polynucleotide differs in nucleotide sequence from another, reference polynucleotide. Changes in the nucleotide sequence of the variant may or may not alter the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide encoded by the reference polynucleotide. Nucleotide changes may result in amino acid substitutions, additions, deletions, fusions and truncations in the polypeptide encoded by the reference sequence, as discussed below. A typical variant of a polypeptide differs in amino acid sequence from another, reference polypeptide. Generally, differences are limited so that the sequences of the reference polypeptide and the variant are closely similar overall and, in many regions, identical. A variant and reference polypeptide may differ in amino acid sequence by one or more substitutions, additions, deletions in any combination. A substituted or inserted amino acid residue may or may not be one encoded by the genetic code. A variant of a polynucleotide or polypeptide may be a naturally occurring such as an allelic variant, or it may be a variant that is not known to occur naturally. Non-naturally occurring variants of polynucleotides and polypeptides may be made by mutagenesis techniques, by direct synthesis, and by other recombinant methods known to skilled artisans.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to novel Response Regulator polypeptides and polynucleotides as described in greater detail below. In particular, the invention relates to polypeptides and polynucleotides of a novel Response Regulator of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is related by amino acid sequence homology to Bacillus subtilis DegU polypeptide. The invention relates especially to Response Regulator having the nucleotide and amino acid sequences set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NO: 1! and Table 1 SEQ ID NO: 2! respectively, and to the Response Regulator nucleotide sequences of the DNA in the deposited strain and amino acid sequences encoded thereby.

                                      TABLE 1     __________________________________________________________________________     Response Regulator Polynucleotide and Polypeptide Sequences     __________________________________________________________________________     (A) Sequences from Streptococcus pneumoniae Response Regulator     polynucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO:1!.     5'-1   GCTAGCTTGA CCCAGGATGT GGAGTCGACG GCTGCTATGA TTTTGCTTGA     51     GTTGGTGACC AATATCATCA AACATGCCAA AGCGTTTAAA GCTTACTTAA     101    AATTAGAACG GACAGAGAAG GAACTCATTT TAACAGTAAG TGATGATGGC     151    TGCGGCTTTG CTTTTCTAAA AGGAGATGAG CTCCATACAG TCCGAGATCG     201    TGTTTTTCCA TTTTCAGGAG AAGTAAGTGT AATCAGTCAG AAACATCCAA     251    CGGAAGTGCA AGTTCGACTA CCTTATAAGG AGAGAAACTA AGATGAAAGT     301    ATTAGTCGCA GAAGATCAAA GTATGTTGCG AGATGCCATG TGTCAATTGC     351    TCACGCTTCA ACCAGATGTG GAGTCTGTCC TTCAAACCAA GAATGGGCAA     401    GAAGCAATCC AACTATTAGA AAAGGAGTCT GTAGATATCG CCATCCTTGA     451    CGTAGAAATG CCTGTTAAGA CAGGTCTTGA AGTCTTGGAG TGGATACGAT     501    CAGAAAAGCT TGAAACAAAG GTGGTTGTGG TGACGACCTT CAAGCGTGCT     551    GGGTATTTTG AACGTGCGGT CAAGGCTGGA GTGGATGCTT ATGTATTAAA     601    GGAACGAAGC ATTGCAGACC TCATGCAAAC CTTGCACACC GTCCTCGAAG     651    GACGCAAGGA GTATTCGCCT GAATTGATGG AAGTGGTGAT GACCCGTCCC     701    AATCCGTTGA CAGAACAAGA GATTGCTGTC TTAAAGGGAA TCGCCCGGGG     751    CTTATCCAAC CAAGAAATCG CAGATCAGCT TTACCTCTCA AACGGAACTA     801    TTCGAAACTA TGTCACCAAT ATTCTTTCAA AACTGGATGC TGGTAATCGA     851    ACAGAGGCAG CTAATATCGC AAAAGAATCT GGTTGGTTAT GATGATATAA     901    TATTTTCATG AAGACTATGT GCTAA-3'     (B) Response Regulator polypeptide sequence deduced from the     polynucleotide sequence in this table  SEQ ID NO:2!.     NH.sub.2 -1            MKVLVAEDQS MLRDAMCQLL TLQPDVESVL QTKNGQEAIQ LLEKESVDIA     51     ILDVEMPVKT GLEVLEWIRS EKLETKVVVV TTFKRAGYFE RAVKAGVDAY     101    VLKERSIADL MQTLHTVLEG RKEYSPELME VVMTRPNPLT EQEIAVLKGI     151    ARGLSNQEIA DQLYLSNGTI RNYVTNILSK LDAGNRTEAA NIAKESGWL-COOH     (C) Polynucleotide sequence embodiments  SEQ ID NO:1!.     X-(R.sub.1).sub.n -1            GCTAGCTTGA CCCAGGATGT GGAGTCGACG GCTGCTATGA TTTTGCTTGA     51     GTTGGTGACC AATATCATCA AACATGCCAA AGCGTTTAAA GCTTACTTAA     101    AATTAGAACG GACAGAGAAG GAACTCATTT TAACAGTAAG TGATGATGGC     151    TGCGGCTTTG CTTTTCTAAA AGGAGATGAG CTCCATACAG TCCGAGATCG     201    TGTTTTTCCA TTTTCAGGAG AAGTAAGTGT AATCAGTCAG AAACATCCAA     251    CGGAAGTGCA AGTTCGACTA CCTTATAAGG AGAGAAACTA AGATGAAAGT     301    ATTAGTCGCA GAAGATCAAA GTATGTTGCG AGATGCCATG TGTCAATTGC     351    TCACGCTTCA ACCAGATGTG GAGTCTGTCC TTCAAACCAA GAATGGGCAA     401    GAAGCAATCC AACTATTAGA AAAGGAGTCT GTAGATATCG CCATCCTTGA     451    CGTAGAAATG CCTGTTAAGA CAGGTCTTGA AGTCTTGGAG TGGATACGAT     501    CAGAAAAGCT TGAAACAAAG GTGGTTGTGG TGACGACCTT CAAGCGTGCT     551    GGGTATTTTG AACGTGCGGT CAAGGCTGGA GTGGATGCTT ATGTATTAAA     601    GGAACGAAGC ATTGCAGACC TCATGCAAAC CTTGCACACC GTCCTCGAAG     651    GACGCAAGGA GTATTCGCCT GAATTGATGG AAGTGGTGAT GACCCGTCCC     701    AATCCGTTGA CAGAACAAGA GATTGCTGTC TTAAAGGGAA TCGCCCGGGG     751    CTTATCCAAC CAAGAAATCG CAGATCAGCT TTACCTCTCA AACGGAACTA     801    TTCGAAACTA TGTCACCAAT ATTCTTTCAA AACTGGATGC TGGTAATCGA     851    ACAGAGGCAG CTAATATCGC AAAAGAATCT GGTTGGTTAT GATGATATAA     901    TATTTTCATG AAGACTATGT GCTAA-(R.sub.2).sub.n -Y     (D) Polypeptide sequence embodiments  SEQ ID NO:2!.     X-(R.sub.1).sub.n -1            MKVLVAEDQS MLRDAMCQLL TLQPDVESVL QTKNGQEAIQ LLEKESVDIA     51     ILDVEMPVKT GLEVLEWIRS EKLETKVVVV TTFKRAGYFE RAVKAGVDAY     101    VLKERSIADL MQTLHTVLEG RKEYSPELME VVMTRPNPLT EQEIAVLKGI     151    ARGLSNQEIA DQLYLSNGTI RNYVTNILSK LDAGNRTEAA NIAKESGWL-(R.sub.2).sub            .n -Y     (E) Sequence from Streptococcus pneumoniae     Response Regulator polynucleotide ORF sequence  SEQ ID NO:3!.     5'-1   CTGATCTGCG ATTTCTTGGT TGGATAAGCC CCGGGCGATT CCCTTTAAGA     51     CAGCAATCTC TTGTTCTGTC AACGGATTGG GACGGGTCAT CACCACTTCC     101    ATCAATTCAG GCGAATACTC CTTGCGTCCT TCGAGGACGG TGTGCAAGGT     151    TTGCATGAGG TCTGCAATGC TTCGTTCCTT TAATACATAA GCATCCACTC     201    CAGCCTTGAC CGCACGTTCA AAATACCCAG CACGCTTGAA GGTCGTCACC     251    ACAACCACCT TTGTTTCAAG CTTTTCTGAT CGTATCCACT CCAAGACTTC     301    AAGACCTGTC TTAACAGGCA TTTCTACGTC AAGGATGGCG ATATCTACAG     351    ACTCCTTTTC TAATAGTTGG ATTGCTTCTT GCCCATTCTT GGTTTGAAGG     401    ACAGACTCCA CATCTGGTTG AAGCGTGAGC AATTGACACA TGGCATCTCG     451    CAACATACTT TGATCTTCTG CGACTAATAC TTTCATCTTA GTTTCTCTCC     501    TTATAAGGTA GTCGAACTTG CACTTCCGTT GGATGTTTCT GACTGATTAC     551    ACTTACTTCT CCTGAAAATG GAAAAACACG ATCTCCGACT GTATGGA-3'     (F) Response Regulator polypeptide sequence deduced from the     polynucleotide ORF sequence in this table  SEQ ID NO:4!.     NH.sub.2 -1            MKVLVAEDQS MLRDAMCQLL TLQPDVESVL QTKNGQEAIQ LLEKESVDIA     51     ILDVEMPVKT GLEVLEWIRS EKLETKVVVV TTFKRAGYFE RAVKAGVDAY     101    VLKERSIADL MQTLHTVLEG RKEYSPELME VVMTRPNPLT EQEIAVLKGI     151    ARGLSNQEIA DQ-COOH     __________________________________________________________________________

Deposited Materials

A deposit containing a Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain has been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial and Marine Bacteria Ltd. (herein "NCIMB"), 23 St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen AB2 1RY, Scotland on Apr. 11, 1996 and assigned deposit number 40794. The deposit was described as Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 on deposit. On Apr. 17, 1996 a Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 DNA library in E. coli was similarly deposited with the NCIMB and assigned deposit number 40800. The Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposit is referred to herein as "the deposited strain" or as "the DNA of the deposited strain."

The deposited strain contains the full length Response Regulator gene. The sequence of the polynucleotides contained in the deposited strain, as well as the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide encoded thereby, are controlling in the event of any conflict with any description of sequences herein.

The deposit of the deposited strain has been made under the terms of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure. The strain will be irrevocably and without restriction or condition released to the public upon the issuance of a patent. The deposited strain is provided merely as convenience to those of skill in the art and is not an admission that a deposit is required for enablement, such as that required under 35 U.S.C. §112.

A license may be required to make, use or sell the deposited strain, and compounds derived therefrom, and no such license is hereby granted.

Polypeptides

The polypeptides of the invention include the polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2! (in particular the mature polypeptide) as well as polypeptides and fragments, particularly those which have the biological activity of Response Regulator, and also those which have at least 70% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4! or the relevant portion, preferably at least 80% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4!, and more preferably at least 90% similarity (more preferably at least 90% identity) to a polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4! and still more preferably at least 95% similarity (still more preferably at least 95% identity) to a polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4! and also include portions of such polypeptides with such portion of the polypeptide generally containing at least 30 amino acids and more preferably at least 50 amino acids.

The invention also includes polypeptides of the formula set forth in Table 1 (D) SEQ ID NO:2! wherein, at the amino terminus, X is hydrogen, and at the carboxyl terminus, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₂ is any amino acid residue, and n is an integer between 1 and 1000. Any stretch of amino acid residues denoted by either R group, where R is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer.

A fragment is a variant polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that entirely is the same as part but not all of the amino acid sequence of the aforementioned polypeptides. As with Response Regulator polypeptides fragments may be "free-standing," or comprised within a larger polypeptide of which they form a part or region, most preferably as a single continuous region, a single larger polypeptide.

Preferred fragments include, for example, truncation polypeptides having a portion of an amino acid sequence of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4!, or of variants thereof, such as a continuous series of residues that includes the amino terminus, or a continuous series of residues that includes the carboxyl terminus. Degradation forms of the polypeptides of the invention in a host cell, particularly a Streptococcus pneumoniae, are also preferred. Further preferred are fragments characterized by structural or functional attributes such as fragments that comprise alpha-helix and alpha-helix forming regions, beta-sheet and beta-sheet-forming regions, turn and turn-forming regions, coil and coil-forming regions, hydrophilic regions, hydrophobic regions, alpha amphipathic regions, beta amphipathic regions, flexible regions, surface-forming regions, substrate binding region, and high antigenic index regions.

Also preferred are biologically active fragments which are those fragments that mediate activities of Response Regulator, including those with a similar activity or an improved activity, or with a decreased undesirable activity. Also included are those fragments that are antigenic or immunogenic in an animal, especially in a human. Particularly preferred are fragments comprising receptors or domains of enzymes that confer a function essential for viability of Streptococcus pneumoniae or the ability to initiate, or maintain cause disease in an individual, particularly a human.

Variants that are fragments of the polypeptides of the invention may be employed for producing the corresponding full-length polypeptide by peptide synthesis; therefore, these variants may be employed as intermediates for producing the full-length polypeptides of the invention.

Polynucleotides

Another aspect of the invention relates to isolated polynucleotides, including the full length gene, that encode the Response Regulator polypeptide having a deduced amino acid sequence of Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4! and polynucleotides closely related thereto and variants thereof.

Using the information provided herein, such as a polynucleotide sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:1 and 3!, a polynucleotide of the invention encoding Response Regulator polypeptide may be obtained using standard cloning and screening methods, such as those for cloning and sequencing chromosomal DNA fragments from bacteria using Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 cells as starting material, followed by obtaining a full length clone. For example, to obtain a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, such as a sequence given in Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:1 and 3!, typically a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 in E. coli or some other suitable host is probed with a radiolabeled oligonucleotide, preferably a 17-mer or longer, derived from a partial sequence. Clones carrying DNA identical to that of the probe can then be distinguished using stringent conditions. By sequencing the individual clones thus identified with sequencing primers designed from the original sequence it is then possible to extend the sequence in both directions to determine the full gene sequence. Conveniently, such sequencing is performed using denatured double stranded DNA prepared from a plasmid clone. Suitable techniques are described by Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. and Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed.; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989). (see in particular Screening By Hybridization 1.90 and Sequencing Denatured Double-Stranded DNA Templates 13.70). Illustrative of the invention, the polynucleotide set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NO:1! was discovered in a DNA library derived from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993.

The DNA sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:1! contains an open reading frame encoding a protein having about the number of amino acid residues set forth in Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2! with a deduced molecular weight that can be calculated using amino acid residue molecular weight values well known in the art. The start codon of the DNA in Table 1 is nucleotide number 293 and last codon that encodes an amino acid is number 889, the stop codon being the next codon following this last codon encoding an amino acid (890).

Response Regulator of the invention is structurally related to other proteins of the response regulator family, as shown by the results of sequencing the DNA encoding Response Regulator of the deposited strain. The protein exhibits greatest homology to Bacillus subtilis DegU protein among known proteins. Response Regulator of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2! has about 30% identity over its entire length and about 56% similarity over its entire length with the amino acid sequence of Bacillus subtilis DegU polypeptide.

The invention provides a polynucleotide sequence identical over its entire length to the coding sequence in Table 1 SEQ ID NO:1!. Also provided by the invention is the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment thereof, by itself as well as the coding sequence for the mature polypeptide or a fragment in reading frame with other coding sequence, such as those encoding a leader or secretory sequence, a pre-, or pro- or preproprotein sequence. The polynucleotide may also contain non-coding sequences, including for example, but not limited to non-coding 5' and 3' sequences, such as the transcribed, non-translated sequences, termination signals, ribosome binding sites, sequences that stabilize mRNA, introns, polyadenylation signals, and additional coding sequence which encode additional amino acids. For example, a marker sequence that facilitates purification of the fused polypeptide can be encoded. In certain embodiments of the invention, the marker sequence is a hexa-histidine peptide, as provided in the pQE vector (Qiagen, Inc.) and described in Gentz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 86: 821-824 (1989), or an HA tag (Wilson et al., Cell 37: 767 (1984). Polynucleotides of the invention also include, but are not limited to, polynucleotides comprising a structural gene and its naturally associated sequences that control gene expression.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is the polynucleotide of comprising nucleotide 293 to 889 set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 of Table 1 which encodes the Response Regulator polypeptide.

The invention also includes polynucleotides of the formula set forth in Table 1 (C) SEQ ID NO:1! wherein, at the 5' end of the molecule, X is hydrogen, and at the 3' end of the molecule, Y is hydrogen or a metal, R₁ and R₂ is any nucleic acid residue, and n is an integer between 1 and 1000. Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R group, where R is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer.

The term "polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide" as used herein encompasses polynucleotides that include a sequence encoding a polypeptide of the invention, particularly a bacterial polypeptide and more particularly a polypeptide of the Streptococcus pneumoniae Response Regulator having the amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2!. The term also encompasses polynucleotides that include a single continuous region or discontinuous regions encoding the polypeptide (for example, interrupted by integrated phage or an insertion sequence or editing) together with additional regions, that also may contain coding and/or non-coding sequences.

The invention further relates to variants of the polynucleotides described herein that encode for variants of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2!. Variants that are fragments of the polynucleotides of the invention may be used to synthesize full-length polynucleotides of the invention.

Further particularly preferred embodiments are polynucleotides encoding Response Regulator variants, that have the amino acid sequence of Response Regulator polypeptide of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:2! in which several, a few, 5 to 10, 1 to 5, 1 to 3, 2, 1 or no amino acid residues are substituted, deleted or added, in any combination. Especially preferred among these are silent substitutions, additions and deletions, that do not alter the properties and activities of Response Regulator.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention are polynucleotides that are at least 70% identical over their entire length to a polynucleotide encoding Response Regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence set out in Table 1 SEQ ID NOS:2 and 4!, and polynucleotides that are complementary to such polynucleotides. Alternatively, most highly preferred are polynucleotides that comprise a region that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to a polynucleotide encoding Response Regulator polypeptide of the deposited strain and polynucleotides complementary thereto. In this regard, polynucleotides at least 90% identical over their entire length to the same are particularly preferred, and among these particularly preferred polynucleotides, those with at least 95% are especially preferred. Furthermore, those with at least 97% are highly preferred among those with at least 95%, and among these those with at least 98% and at least 99% are particularly highly preferred, with at least 99% being the more preferred.

Preferred embodiments are polynucleotides that encode polypeptides that retain substantially the same biological function or activity as the mature polypeptide encoded by the DNA of Table 1 SEQ ID NO:1!.

The invention further relates to polynucleotides that hybridize to the herein above-described sequences. In this regard, the invention especially relates to polynucleotides that hybridize under stringent conditions to the herein above-described polynucleotides. As herein used, the terms "stringent conditions" and "stringent hybridization conditions" mean hybridization will occur only if there is at least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences. An example of stringent hybridization conditions is overnight incubation at 42° C. in a solution comprising: 50% formamide, 5x SSC (150 mM NaCl, 15 mM trisodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.6), 5x Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 micrograms/ml denatured, sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the hybridization support in 0.1x SSC at about 65° C. Hybridization and wash conditions are well known and exemplified in Sambrook, et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1989), particularly Chapter 11 therein.

The invention also provides a polynucleotide consisting essentially of a polynucleotide sequence obtainable by screening an appropriate library containing the complete gene for a polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:3 under stringent hybridization conditions with a probe having the sequence of said polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or a fragment thereof; and isolating said DNA sequence. Fragments useful for obtaining such a polynucleotide include, for example, probes and primers described elsewhere herein.

As discussed additionally herein regarding polynucleotide assays of the invention, for instance, polynucleotides of the invention as discussed above, may be used as a hybridization probe for RNA, cDNA and genomic DNA to isolate full-length cDNAs and genomic clones encoding Response Regulator and to isolate cDNA and genomic clones of other genes that have a high sequence similarity to the Response Regulator gene. Such probes generally will comprise at least 15 bases. Preferably, such probes will have at least 30 bases and may have at least 50 bases. Particularly preferred probes will have at least 30 bases and will have 50 bases or less.

For example, the coding region of the Response Regulator gene may be isolated by screening using the known DNA sequence provided in SEQ ID NO: 1 to synthesize an oligonucleotide probe. A labeled oligonucleotide having a sequence complementary to that of a gene of the invention is then used to screen a library of cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine which members of the library the probe hybridizes to.

The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the invention may be employed, for example, as research reagents and materials for discovery of treatments of and diagnostics for disease, particularly human disease, as further discussed herein relating to polynucleotide assays.

Polynucleotides of the invention that are oligonucleotides derived from the sequences of SEQ ID NOS:1 and/or 2 may be used in the processes herein as described, but preferably for PCR, to determine whether or not the polynucleotides identified herein in whole or in part are transcribed in bacteria in infected tissue. It is recognized that such sequences will also have utility in diagnosis of the stage of infection and type of infection the pathogen has attained.

The invention also provides polynucleotides that may encode a polypeptide that is the mature protein plus additional amino or carboxyl-terminal amino acids, or amino acids interior to the mature polypeptide (when the mature form has more than one polypeptide chain, for instance). Such sequences may play a role in processing of a protein from precursor to a mature form, may allow protein transport, may lengthen or shorten protein half-life or may facilitate manipulation of a protein for assay or production, among other things. As generally is the case in vivo, the additional amino acids may be processed away from the mature protein by cellular enzymes. A precursor protein, having the mature form of the polypeptide fused to one or more prosequences may be an inactive form of the polypeptide. When prosequences are removed such inactive precursors generally are activated. Some or all of the prosequences may be removed before activation. Generally, such precursors are called proproteins.

In sum, a polynucleotide of the invention may encode a mature protein, a mature protein plus a leader sequence (which may be referred to as a preprotein), a precursor of a mature protein having one or more prosequences that are not the leader sequences of a preprotein, or a preproprotein, which is a precursor to a proprotein, having a leader sequence and one or more prosequences, which generally are removed during processing steps that produce active and mature forms of the polypeptide.

Vectors, Host Cells, Expression

The invention also relates to vectors that comprise a polynucleotide or polynucleotides of the invention, host cells that are genetically engineered with vectors of the invention and the production of polypeptides of the invention by recombinant techniques. Cell-free translation systems can also be employed to produce such proteins using RNAs derived from the DNA constructs of the invention.

For recombinant production, host cells can be genetically engineered to incorporate expression systems or portions thereof or polynucleotides of the invention. Introduction of a polynucleotide into the host cell can be effected by methods described in many standard laboratory manuals, such as Davis et al., BASIC METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, (1986) and Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING: A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989), such as, calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-dextran mediated transfection, transvection, microinjection, cationic lipid-mediated transfection, electroporation, transduction, scrape loading, ballistic introduction and infection.

Representative examples of appropriate hosts include bacterial cells, such as streptococci, staphylococci, enterococci E. coli, streptomyces and Bacillus subtilis cells; fungal cells, such as yeast cells and Aspergillus cells; insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9 cells; animal cells such as CHO, COS, HeLa, C127, 3T3, BHK, 293 and Bowes melanoma cells; and plant cells.

A great variety of expression systems can be used to produce the polypeptides of the invention. Such vectors include, among others, chromosomal, episomal and virus-derived vectors, e.g., vectors derived from bacterial plasmids, from bacteriophage, from transposons, from yeast episomes, from insertion elements, from yeast chromosomal elements, from viruses such as baculoviruses, papova viruses, such as SV40, vaccinia viruses, adenoviruses, fowl pox viruses, pseudorabies viruses and retroviruses, and vectors derived from combinations thereof, such as those derived from plasmid and bacteriophage genetic elements, such as cosmids and phagemids. The expression system constructs may contain control regions that regulate as well as engender expression. Generally, any system or vector suitable to maintain, propagate or express polynucleotides and/or to express a polypeptide in a host may be used for expression in this regard. The appropriate DNA sequence may be inserted into the expression system by any of a variety of well-known and routine techniques, such as, for example, those set forth in Sambrook et al., MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, (supra).

For secretion of the translated protein into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, into the periplasmic space or into the extracellular environment, appropriate secretion signals may be incorporated into the expressed polypeptide. These signals may be endogenous to the polypeptide or they may be heterologous signals.

Polypeptides of the invention can be recovered and purified from recombinant cell cultures by well-known methods including ammonium sulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction, anion or cation exchange chromatography, phosphocellulose chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatography, and lectin chromatography. Most preferably, high performance liquid chromatography is employed for purification. Well known techniques for refolding protein may be employed to regenerate active conformation when the polypeptide is denatured during isolation and or purification.

Diagnostic Assays

This invention is also related to the use of the Response Regulator polynucleotides of the invention for use as diagnostic reagents. Detection of Response Regulator in a eukaryote, particularly a mammal, and especially a human, will provide a diagnostic method for diagnosis of a disease. Eukaryotes (herein also "individual(s)"), particularly mammals, and especially humans, infected with an organism comprising the Response Regulator gene may be detected at the nucleic acid level by a variety of techniques.

Nucleic acids for diagnosis may be obtained from an infected individual's cells and tissues, such as bone, blood, muscle, cartilage, and skin. Genomic DNA may be used directly for detection or may be amplified enzymatically by using PCR or other amplification technique prior to analysis. RNA or cDNA may also be used in the same ways. Using amplification, characterization of the species and strain of prokaryote present in an individual, may be made by an analysis of the genotype of the prokaryote gene. Deletions and insertions can be detected by a change in size of the amplified product in comparison to the genotype of a reference sequence. Point mutations can be identified by hybridizing amplified DNA to labeled Response Regulator polynucleotide sequences. Perfectly matched sequences can be distinguished from mismatched duplexes by RNase digestion or by differences in melting temperatures. DNA sequence differences may also be detected by alterations in the electrophoretic mobility of the DNA fragments in gels, with or without denaturing agents, or by direct DNA sequencing. See, e.g., Myers et al., Science, 230: 1242 (1985). Sequence changes at specific locations also may be revealed by nuclease protection assays, such as RNase and S1 protection or a chemical cleavage method. See, e.g., Cotton et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 85: 4397-4401 (1985).

Cells carrying mutations or polymorphisms in the gene of the invention may also be detected at the DNA level by a variety of techniques, to allow for serotyping, for example. For example, RT-PCR can be used to detect mutations. It is particularly preferred to used RT-PCR in conjunction with automated detection systems, such as, for example, GeneScan. RNA or cDNA may also be used for the same purpose, PCR or RT-PCR. As an example, PCR primers complementary to a nucleic acid encoding Response Regulator can be used to identify and analyze mutations. Examples of representative primers are shown below in Table 2.

                  TABLE 2     ______________________________________     Primers for amplification of Response     Regulator polynucleotides     SEQ ID NO  PRIMER SEQUENCE     ______________________________________     5          5'-ATGAAAGTATTAGTCGCAGAAGATCAAA-3'     6          5'-TAACCAACCAGATTCTTTTGCGATATTAG-3'     ______________________________________

The invention further provides these primers with 1, 2, 3 or 4 nucleotides removed from the 5' and/or the 3' end. These primers may be used for, among other things, amplifying Response Regulator DNA isolated from a sample derived from an individual. The primers may be used to amplify the gene isolated from an infected individual such that the gene may then be subject to various techniques for elucidation of the DNA sequence. In this way, mutations in the DNA sequence may be detected and used to diagnose infection and to serotype and/or classify the infectious agent.

The invention further provides a process for diagnosing, disease, preferably bacterial infections, more preferably infections by Streptococcus pneumoniae, and most preferably otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid, comprising determining from a sample derived from an individual a increased level of expression of polynucleotide having the sequence of Table 1 SEQ ID NO: 1!. Increased or decreased expression of Response Regulator polynucleotide can be measured using any on of the methods well known in the art for the quantation of polynucleotides, such as, for example, amplification, PCR, RT-PCR, RNase protection, Northern blotting and other hybridization methods.

In addition, a diagnostic assay in accordance with the invention for detecting over-expression of Response Regulator protein compared to normal control tissue samples may be used to detect the presence of an infection, for example. Assay techniques that can be used to determine levels of a Response Regulator protein, in a sample derived from a host are well-known to those of skill in the art. Such assay methods include radioimmunoassays, competitive-binding assays, Western Blot analysis and ELISA assays.

Antibodies

The polypeptides of the invention or variants thereof, or cells expressing them can be used as an immunogen to produce antibodies immunospecific for such polypeptides. "Antibodies" as used herein includes monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, chimeric, single chain, simianized antibodies and humanized antibodies, as well as Fab fragments, including the products of an Fab immunolglobulin expression library.

Antibodies generated against the polypeptides of the invention can be obtained by administering the polypeptides or epitope-bearing fragments, analogues or cells to an animal, preferably a nonhuman, using routine protocols. For preparation of monoclonal antibodies, any technique known in the art that provides antibodies produced by continuous cell line cultures can be used. Examples include various techniques, such as those in Kohler, G. and Milstein, C., Nature 256: 495-497 (1975); Kozbor et al., Immunology Today 4: 72 (1983); Cole et al., pg. 77-96 in MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND CANCER THERAPY, Alan R. Liss, Inc. (1985).

Techniques for the production of single chain antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778) can be adapted to produce single chain antibodies to polypeptides of this invention. Also, transgenic mice, or other organisms such as other mammals, may be used to express humanized antibodies.

Alternatively phage display technology may be utilized to select antibody genes with binding activities towards the polypeptide either from repertoires of PCR amplified v-genes of lymphocytes from humans screened for possessing anti-Response Regulator or from naive libraries (McCafferty, J. et al., (1990), Nature 348, 552-554; Marks, J. et al., (1992) Biotechnology 10, 779-783). The affinity of these antibodies can also be improved by chain shuffling (Clackson, T. et al., (1991) Nature 352, 624-628).

If two antigen binding domains are present each domain may be directed against a different epitope--termed `bispecific` antibodies.

The above-described antibodies may be employed to isolate or to identify clones expressing the polypeptides to purify the polypeptides by affinity chromatography.

Thus, among others, antibodies against Response Regulator-polypeptide may be employed to treat infections, particularly bacterial infections and especially otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid.

Polypeptide variants include antigenically, epitopically or immunologically equivalent variants that form a particular aspect of this invention. The term "antigenically equivalent derivative" as used herein encompasses a polypeptide or its equivalent which will be specifically recognized by certain antibodies which, when raised to the protein or polypeptide according to the invention, interfere with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host. The term "immunologically equivalent derivative" as used herein encompasses a peptide or its equivalent which when used in a suitable formulation to raise antibodies in a vertebrate, the antibodies act to interfere with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host.

The polypeptide, such as an antigenically or immunologically equivalent derivative or a fusion protein thereof is used as an antigen to immunize a mouse or other animal such as a rat or chicken. The fusion protein may provide stability to the polypeptide. The antigen may be associated, for example by conjugation, with an immunogenic carrier protein for example bovine serum albumin (BSA) or keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH). Alternatively a multiple antigenic peptide comprising multiple copies of the protein or polypeptide, or an antigenically or immunologically equivalent polypeptide thereof may be sufficiently antigenic to improve immunogenicity so as to obviate the use of a carrier.

Preferably, the antibody or variant thereof is modified to make it less immunogenic in the individual. For example, if the individual is human the antibody may most preferably be "humanized"; where the complimentarity determining region(s) of the hybridoma-derived antibody has been transplanted into a human monoclonal antibody, for example as described in Jones, P. et al. (1986), Nature 321, 522-525 or Tempest et al., (1991) Biotechnology 9, 266-273.

The use of a polynucleotide of the invention in genetic immunization will preferably employ a suitable delivery method such as direct injection of plasmid DNA into muscles (Wolff et al., Hum Mol Genet 1992, 1:363, Manthorpe et al., Hum. Gene Ther. 1963:4, 419), delivery of DNA complexed with specific protein carriers (Wu et al., J Biol Chem. 1989: 264,16985), coprecipitation of DNA with calcium phosphate (Benvenisty & Reshef, PNAS, 1986:83,9551), encapsulation of DNA in various forms of liposomes (Kaneda et al., Science 1989:243,375), particle bombardment (Tang et al., Nature 1992, 356:152, Eisenbraun et al., DNA Cell Biol 1993, 12:791) and in vivo infection using cloned retroviral vectors (Seeger et al., PNAS 1984:81,5849).

Antagonists and Agonists--Assays and Molecules

Polypeptides of the invention may also be used to assess the binding of small molecule substrates and ligands in, for example, cells, cell-free preparations, chemical libraries, and natural product mixtures. These substrates and ligands may be natural substrates and ligands or may be structural or functional mimetics. See, e.g., Coligan et al., Current Protocols in Immunology 1(2): Chapter 5 (1991).

The invention also provides a method of screening compounds to identify those which enhance (agonist) or block (antagonist) the action of Response Regulator polypeptides or polynucleotides, particularly those compounds that are bacteriostatic and/or bacteriocidal. The method of screening may involve high-throughput techniques. For example, to screen for agonists or antagoists, a synthetic reaction mix, a cellular compartment, such as a membrane, cell envelope or cell wall, or a preparation of any thereof, comprising Response Regulator polypeptide and a labeled substrate or ligand of such polypeptide is incubated in the absence or the presence of a candidate molecule that may be a Response Regulator agonist or antagonist. The ability of the candidate molecule to agonize or antagonize the Response Regulator polypeptide is reflected in decreased binding of the labeled ligand or decreased production of product from such substrate. Molecules that bind gratuitously, i.e., without inducing the effects of Response Regulator polypeptide are most likely to be good antagonists. Molecules that bind well and increase the rate of product production from substrate are agonists. Detection of the rate or level of production of product from substrate may be enhanced by using a reporter system. Reporter systems that may be useful in this regard include but are not limited to colorimetric labeled substrate converted into product, a reporter gene that is responsive to changes in Response Regulator polynucleotide or polypeptide activity, and binding assays known in the art.

Another example of an assay for Response Regulator antagonists is a competitive assay that combines Response Regulator and a potential antagonist with Response Regulator-binding molecules, recombinant Response Regulator binding molecules, natural substrates or ligands, or substrate or ligand mimetics, under appropriate conditions for a competitive inhibition assay. Response Regulator can be labeled, such as by radioactivity or a colorimetric compound, such that the number of Response Regulator molecules bound to a binding molecule or converted to product can be determined accurately to assess the effectiveness of the potential antagonist.

Potential antagonists include small organic molecules, peptides, polypeptides and antibodies that bind to a polynucleotide or polypeptide of the invention and thereby inhibit or extinguish its activity. Potential antagonists also may be small organic molecules, a peptide, a polypeptide such as a closely related protein or antibody that binds the same sites on a binding molecule, such as a binding molecule, without inducing Response Regulator-induced activities, thereby preventing the action of Response Regulator by excluding Response Regulator from binding.

Potential antagonists include a small molecule that binds to and occupies the binding site of the polypeptide thereby preventing binding to cellular binding molecules, such that normal biological activity is prevented. Examples of small molecules include but are not limited to small organic molecules, peptides or peptide-like molecules. Other potential antagonists include antisense molecules (see Okano, J. Neurochem. 56: 560 (1991); OLIGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDES AS ANTISENSE INHIBITORS OF GENE EXPRESSION, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1988), for a description of these molecules). Preferred potential antagonists include compounds related to and variants of Response Regulator.

Each of the DNA sequences provided herein may be used in the discovery and development of antibacterial compounds. The encoded protein, upon expression, can be used as a target for the screening of antibacterial drugs. Additionally, the DNA sequences encoding the amino terminal regions of the encoded protein or Shine-Delgarno or other translation facilitating sequences of the respective mRNA can be used to construct antisense sequences to control the expression of the coding sequence of interest.

The invention also provides the use of the polypeptide, polynucleotide or inhibitor of the invention to interfere with the initial physical interaction between a pathogen and mammalian host responsible for sequelae of infection. In particular the molecules of the invention may be used: in the prevention of adhesion of bacteria, in particular gram positive bacteria, to mammalian extracellular matrix proteins on in-dwelling devices or to extracellular matrix proteins in wounds; to block Response Regulator protein-mediated mammalian cell invasion by, for example, initiating phosphorylation of mammalian tyrosine kinases (Rosenshine et al., Infect. Immun. 60:2211 (1992); to block bacterial adhesion between mammalian extracellular matrix proteins and bacterial Response Regulator proteins that mediate tissue damage and; to block the normal progression of pathogenesis in infections initiated other than by the implantation of in-dwelling devices or by other surgical techniques.

This invention provides a method of screening drugs to identify those which

i) interfere with the interaction of the response regulator with a histidine kinase, the method comprising incubating the response regulator with histidine kinase in the presence of the drug and measuring the ability of the drug to block this interaction;

ii) interfere with the ability of the response regulator to catalyse the transfer of phosphate group from the histidine kinase to itself, the method comprising incubating the response regulator with drug and measuring the ability of the response regulator to catalyse the removal of phosphate from phosphorylated histidine kinase; and/or

iii) interfere with the ability of the molecule to autodephosphorylate itself once the phosphate had been transferred, the method comprising incubating the phosphorylated response regulator with drug and measuring the ability of the response regulator to catalyse the autodephosphorylation.

The histidine kinase is preferably the cognate histidine kinase of the response regulator, or another histidine kinase which is capable of acting as a substrate for the response regulator, and may be from Streptococcus pneumoniae or another microorganism e.g. Bacillus. Generally the genes for a histidine kinase and its cognate response regulator are found close together on the chromosome so a suitable histidine kinase may conveniently be identified by further sequencing along the chromosome. The invention also relates to inhibitors identfied thereby.

The antagonists and agonists of the invention may be employed, for instance, to inhibit and treat otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid.

Vaccines

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for inducing an immunological response in an individual, particularly a mammal which comprises inoculating the individual with Response Regulator, or a fragment or variant thereof, adequate to produce antibody and/or T cell immune response to protect said individual from infection, particularly bacterial infection and most particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. Also provided are methods whereby such immunological response slows bacterial replication. Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method of inducing immunological response in an individual which comprises delivering to such individual a nucleic acid vector to direct expression of Response Regulator, or a fragment or a variant thereof, for expressing Response Regulator, or a fragment or a variant thereof in vivo in order to induce an immunological response, such as, to produce antibody and/or T cell immune response, including, for example, cytokine-producing T cells or cytotoxic T cells, to protect said individual from disease, whether that disease is already established within the individual or not. One way of administering the gene is by accelerating it into the desired cells as a coating on particles or otherwise. Such nucleic acid vector may comprise DNA, RNA, a modified nucleic acid, or a DNA/RNA hybrid.

A further aspect of the invention relates to an immunological composition which, when introduced into an individual capable or having induced within it an immunological response, induces an immunological response in such individual to a Response Regulator or protein coded therefrom, wherein the composition comprises a recombinant Response Regulator or protein coded therefrom comprising DNA which codes for and expresses an antigen of said Response Regulator or protein coded therefrom. The immunological response may be used therapeutically or prophylactically and may take the form of antibody immunity or cellular immunity such as that arising from CTL or CD4+ T cells.

A Response Regulator polypeptide or a fragment thereof may be fused with co-protein which may not by itself produce antibodies, but is capable of stabilizing the first protein and producing a fused protein which will have immunogenic and protective properties. Thus fused recombinant protein, preferably further comprises an antigenic co-protein, such as lipoprotein D from Hemophilus influenzae, Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or beta-galactosidase, relatively large co-proteins which solubilize the protein and facilitate production and purification thereof. Moreover, the co-protein may act as an adjuvant in the sense of providing a generalized stimulation of the immune system. The co-protein may be attached to either the amino or carboxy terminus of the first protein.

Provided by this invention are compositions, particularly vaccine compositions, and methods comprising the polypeptides or polynucleotides of the invention and immunostimulatory DNA sequences, such as those described in Sato, Y. et al. Science 273: 352 (1996).

Also, provided by this invention are methods using the described polynucleotide or particular fragments thereof which have been shown to encode non-variable regions of bacterial cell surface proteins in DNA constructs used in such genetic immunization experiments in animal models of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae will be particularly useful for identifying protein epitopes able to provoke a prophylactic or therapeutic immune response. It is believed that this approach will allow for the subsequent preparation of monoclonal antibodies of particular value from the requisite organ of the animal successfully resisting or clearing infection for the development of prophylactic agents or therapeutic treatments of bacterial infection, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, in mammals, particularly humans.

The polypeptide may be used as an antigen for vaccination of a host to produce specific antibodies which protect against invasion of bacteria, for example by blocking adherence of bacteria to damaged tissue. Examples of tissue damage include wounds in skin or connective tissue caused, e.g., by mechanical, chemical or thermal damage or by implantation of indwelling devices, or wounds in the mucous membranes, such as the mouth, mammary glands, urethra or vagina.

The invention also includes a vaccine formulation which comprises an immunogenic recombinant protein of the invention together with a suitable carrier. Since the protein may be broken down in the stomach, it is preferably administered parenterally, including, for example, administration that is subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, or intradermal. Formulations suitable for parenteral administration include aqueous and non-aqueous sterile injection solutions which may contain anti-oxidants, buffers, bacteriostats and solutes which render the formulation insotonic with the bodily fluid, preferably the blood, of the individual; and aqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions which may include suspending agents or thickening agents. The formulations may be presented in unit-dose or multi-dose containers, for example, sealed ampules and vials and may be stored in a freeze-dried condition requiring only the addition of the sterile liquid carrier immediately prior to use. The vaccine formulation may also include adjuvant systems for enhancing the immunogenicity of the formulation, such as oil-in water systems and other systems known in the art. The dosage will depend on the specific activity of the vaccine and can be readily determined by routine experimentation.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain Response Regulator protein, it is to be understood that this covers fragments of the naturally occurring protein and similar proteins with additions, deletions or substitutions which do not substantially affect the immunogenic properties of the recombinant protein.

Compositions, Kits and Administration

The invention also relates to compositions comprising the polynucleotide or the polypeptides discussed above or their agonists or antagonists. The polypeptides of the invention may be employed in combination with a non-sterile or sterile carrier or carriers for use with cells, tissues or organisms, such as a pharmaceutical carrier suitable for administration to a subject. Such compositions comprise, for instance, a media additive or a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide of the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient. Such carriers may include, but are not limited to, saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water, glycerol, ethanol and combinations thereof. The formulation should suit the mode of administration. The invention further relates to diagnostic and pharmaceutical packs and kits comprising one or more containers filled with one or more of the ingredients of the aforementioned compositions of the invention.

Polypeptides and other compounds of the invention may be employed alone or in conjunction with other compounds, such as therapeutic compounds.

The pharmaceutical compositions may be administered in any effective, convenient manner including, for instance, administration by topical, oral, anal, vaginal, intravenous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intranasal or intradermal routes among others.

In therapy or as a prophylactic, the active agent may be administered to an individual as an injectable composition, for example as a sterile aqueous dispersion, preferably isotonic.

Alternatively the composition may be formulated for topical application for example in the form of ointments, creams, lotions, eye ointments, eye drops, ear drops, mouthwash, impregnated dressings and sutures and aerosols, and may contain appropriate conventional additives, including, for example, preservatives, solvents to assist drug penetration, and emollients in ointments and creams. Such topical formulations may also contain compatible conventional carriers, for example cream or ointment bases, and ethanol or oleyl alcohol for lotions. Such carriers may constitute from about 1% to about 98% by weight of the formulation; more usually they will constitute up to about 80% by weight of the formulation.

For administration to mammals, and particularly humans, it is expected that the daily dosage level of the active agent will be from 0.01 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg, typically around 1 mg/kg. The physician in any event will determine the actual dosage which will be most suitable for an individual and will vary with the age, weight and response of the particular individual. The above dosages are exemplary of the average case. There can, of course, be individual instances where higher or lower dosage ranges are merited, and such are within the scope of this invention.

In-dwelling devices include surgical implants, prosthetic devices and catheters, i.e., devices that are introduced to the body of an individual and remain in position for an extended time. Such devices include, for example, artificial joints, heart valves, pacemakers, vascular grafts, vascular catheters, cerebrospinal fluid shunts, urinary catheters, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) catheters.

The composition of the invention may be administered by injection to achieve a systemic effect against relevant bacteria shortly before insertion of an in-dwelling device. Treatment may be continued after surgery during the in-body time of the device. In addition, the composition could also be used to broaden perioperative cover for any surgical technique to prevent bacterial wound infections, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae wound infections.

Many orthopaedic surgeons consider that humans with prosthetic joints should be considered for antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment that could produce a bacteremia. Late deep infection is a serious complication sometimes leading to loss of the prosthetic joint and is accompanied by significant morbidity and mortality. It may therefore be possible to extend the use of the active agent as a replacement for prophylactic antibiotics in this situation.

In addition to the therapy described above, the compositions of this invention may be used generally as a wound treatment agent to prevent adhesion of bacteria to matrix proteins exposed in wound tissue and for prophylactic use in dental treatment as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, antibiotic prophylaxis.

Alternatively, the composition of the invention may be used to bathe an indwelling device immediately before insertion. The active agent will preferably be present at a concentration of 1 μg/ml to 10 mg/ml for bathing of wounds or indwelling devices.

A vaccine composition is conveniently in injectable form. Conventional adjuvants may be employed to enhance the immune response. A suitable unit dose for vaccination is 0.5-5 microgram/kg of antigen, and such dose is preferably administered 1-3 times and with an interval of 1-3 weeks. With the indicated dose range, no adverse toxicological effects will be observed with the compounds of the invention which would preclude their administration to suitable individuals.

Each reference disclosed herein is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Any patent application to which this application claims priority is also incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

EXAMPLES

The examples below are carried out using standard techniques, which are well known and routine to those of skill in the art, except where otherwise described in detail. The examples are illustrative, but do not limit the invention.

Example 1 Strain Selection, Library Production and Sequencing

The polynucleotide having the DNA sequence given in SEQ ID NO:1 was obtained from a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae in E. coli. The sequencing data from two or more clones containing overlapping Streptococcus pneumoniae DNAs was used to construct the contiguous DNA sequence in SEQ ID NO:1. Libraries may be prepared by routine methods, for example: Methods 1 and 2 below.

Total cellular DNA is isolated from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 according to standard procedures and size-fractionated by either of two methods.

Method 1

Total cellular DNA is mechanically sheared by passage through a needle in order to size-fractionate according to standard procedures. DNA fragments of up to 11 kbp in size are rendered blunt by treatment with exonuclease and DNA polymerase, and EcoRI linkers added. Fragments are ligated into the vector Lambda ZapII that has been cut with EcoRI, the library packaged by standard procedures and E. coli infected with the packaged library. The library is amplified by standard procedures.

Method 2

Total cellular DNA is partially hydrolyzed with a one or a combination of restriction enzymes appropriate to generate a series of fragments for cloning into library vectors (e.g., RsaI, PalI, AluI, Bshl235I), and such fragments are size-fractionated according to standard procedures. EcoRI linkers are ligated to the DNA and the fragments then ligated into the vector Lambda ZapII that have been cut with EcoRI, the library packaged by standard procedures, and E. coli infected with the packaged library. The library is amplified by standard procedures.

    __________________________________________________________________________     #             SEQUENCE LISTING     - (1) GENERAL INFORMATION:     -    (iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 6     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:1:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 925 base               (B) TYPE: nucleic acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Genomic DNA     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:1:     #GTTGGTGACC    60AGGATGT GGAGTCGACG GCTGCTATGA TTTTGCTTGA     #GACAGAGAAG   120ATGCCAA AGCGTTTAAA GCTTACTTAA AATTAGAACG     #AGGAGATGAG   180CAGTAAG TGATGATGGC TGCGGCTTTG CTTTTCTAAA     #AATCAGTCAG   240GAGATCG TGTTTTTCCA TTTTCAGGAG AAGTAAGTGT     #AGATGAAAGT   300AAGTGCA AGTTCGACTA CCTTATAAGG AGAGAAACTA     #TCACGCTTCA   360GATCAAA GTATGTTGCG AGATGCCATG TGTCAATTGC     #AACTATTAGA   420TCTGTCC TTCAAACCAA GAATGGGCAA GAAGCAATCC     #CAGGTCTTGA   480GATATCG CCATCCTTGA CGTAGAAATG CCTGTTAAGA     #TGACGACCTT   540ATACGAT CAGAAAAGCT TGAAACAAAG GTGGTTGTGG     #ATGTATTAAA   600TATTTTG AACGTGCGGT CAAGGCTGGA GTGGATGCTT     #GACGCAAGGA   660GCAGACC TCATGCAAAC CTTGCACACC GTCCTCGAAG     #CAGAACAAGA   720TTGATGG AAGTGGTGAT GACCCGTCCC AATCCGTTGA     #CAGATCAGCT   780AAGGGAA TCGCCCGGGG CTTATCCAAC CAAGAAATCG     #AACTGGATGC   840GGAACTA TTCGAAACTA TGTCACCAAT ATTCTTTCAA     #GATGATATAA   900GAGGCAG CTAATATCGC AAAAGAATCT GGTTGGTTAT     #              925 TATGT GCTAA     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:2:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #acids    (A) LENGTH: 199 amino               (B) TYPE: amino acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:2:     #Met Leu Arg Asp Ala Metla Glu Asp Gln Ser     #                 15     #Glu Ser Val Leu Gln Threu Gln Pro Asp Val     #             30     #Glu Lys Glu Ser Val Aspla Ile Gln Leu Leu     #         45     #Lys Thr Gly Leu Glu Valal Glu Met Pro Val     #     60     #Thr Lys Val Val Val Valer Glu Lys Leu Glu     # 80     #Arg Ala Val Lys Ala Glyla Gly Tyr Phe Glu     #                 95     #Ile Ala Asp Leu Met Glneu Lys Glu Arg Ser     #            110     #Glu Tyr Ser Pro Glu Leueu Glu Gly Arg Lys     #        125     #Leu Thr Glu Gln Glu Ilehr Arg Pro Asn Pro     #    140     #Ser Asn Gln Glu Ile Alale Ala Arg Gly Leu     #160     #Arg Asn Tyr Val Thr Asner Asn Gly Thr Ile     #                175     #Thr Glu Ala Ala Asn Ilesp Ala Gly Asn Arg     #            190     -  Ala Lys Glu Ser Gly Trp Leu              195     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:3:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 597 base               (B) TYPE: nucleic acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Genomic DNA     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:3:     #CAGCAATCTC    60TCTTGGT TGGATAAGCC CCGGGCGATT CCCTTTAAGA     #GCGAATACTC   120GGATTGG GACGGGTCAT CACCACTTCC ATCAATTCAG     #TTCGTTCCTT   180AGGACGG TGTGCAAGGT TTGCATGAGG TCTGCAATGC     #CACGCTTGAA   240TCCACTC CAGCCTTGAC CGCACGTTCA AAATACCCAG     #CCAAGACTTC   300ACCACCT TTGTTTCAAG CTTTTCTGAT CGTATCCACT     #ACTCCTTTTC   360ACAGGCA TTTCTACGTC AAGGATGGCG ATATCTACAG     #CATCTGGTTG   420GCTTCTT GCCCATTCTT GGTTTGAAGG ACAGACTCCA     #CGACTAATAC   480TGACACA TGGCATCTCG CAACATACTT TGATCTTCTG     #GGATGTTTCT   540TCTCTCC TTATAAGGTA GTCGAACTTG CACTTCCGTT     #GTATGGA      597TACTTCT CCTGAAAATG GAAAAACACG ATCTCCGACT     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:4:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #acids    (A) LENGTH: 162 amino               (B) TYPE: amino acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:4:     #Met Leu Arg Asp Ala Metla Glu Asp Gln Ser     #                 15     #Glu Ser Val Leu Gln Threu Gln Pro Asp Val     #             30     #Glu Lys Glu Ser Val Aspla Ile Gln Leu Leu     #         45     #Lys Thr Gly Leu Glu Valal Glu Met Pro Val     #     60     #Thr Lys Val Val Val Valer Glu Lys Leu Glu     # 80     #Arg Ala Val Lys Ala Glyla Gly Tyr Phe Glu     #                 95     #Ile Ala Asp Leu Met Glneu Lys Glu Arg Ser     #            110     #Glu Tyr Ser Pro Glu Leueu Glu Gly Arg Lys     #        125     #Leu Thr Glu Gln Glu Ilehr Arg Pro Asn Pro     #    140     #Ser Asn Gln Glu Ile Alale Ala Arg Gly Leu     #160     -  Asp Gln     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:5:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 28 base               (B) TYPE: nucleic acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Genomic DNA     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:5:     #             28   GCAGA AGATCAAA     - (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:6:     -      (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:     #pairs    (A) LENGTH: 29 base               (B) TYPE: nucleic acid               (C) STRANDEDNESS: single               (D) TOPOLOGY: linear     -     (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Genomic DNA     -     (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:6:     #            29    TTTTG CGATATTAG     __________________________________________________________________________ 

What is claimed is:
 1. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 2. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2,whereby said response regulator polypeptide is identical to SEQ ID NO:2 except that it may include up to 10 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 3. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 95% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2,whereby said response regulator polypeptide is identical to SEQ ID NO:2 except that it may include up to 5 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 4. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence of the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of the mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794, except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB
 40794. 5. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of the mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794, except that it may include up to 10 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB
 40794. 6. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 95% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of the mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794, except that it may include up to 5 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB
 40794. 7. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
 8. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is identical to the amino acid sequence of the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB
 40794. 9. A fusion polypeptide comprising a response regulator polypeptide, said response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2,whereby said response regulator polypeptide is identical to SEQ ID NO:2 except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 10. A fusion polypeptide comprising a response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of the mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794, except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB
 40794. 11. A fusion polypeptide comprising a response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
 12. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:4,whereby said response regulator polypeptide is identical to SEQ ID NO:4 except that it may include up to 10 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:4, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4.
 13. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 95% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:4,whereby said response regulator polypeptide is identical to SEQ ID NO:4 except that it may include up to 5 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:4, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4.
 14. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4.
 15. An isolated response regulator polypeptide of any of claims 1, 7, 8, 4, 2, 5, 3, or 6 that is bound specifically by a histidine kinase of Streptococcus.
 16. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said response regulator polypeptide is produced by a process of recombinant expression in a transformed host cell, said host cell comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a response regulator polypeptide that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2,whereby said encoded amino acid sequence is identical to SEQ ID NO:2 except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
 17. An isolated response regulator polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794 wherein said response regulator polypeptide is produced by a process of recombinant expression in a transformed host cell, said host cell comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a response regulator polypeptide that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to the same mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794,whereby said response regulator polypeptide has an amino acid sequence identical to the amino acid sequence of the mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain deposited with the accession number NCIMB 40794, except that it may include up to 20 amino acid sequence alterations per each 100 amino acids of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794, wherein said alterations are selected from the group consisting of amino acid deletions, substitutions and insertions, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino terminus, or at the carboxyl terminus, or may occur anywhere between said termini, interspersed either individually among the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB 40794 or in one or more contiguous groups within the amino acid sequence of said mature polypeptide expressed by the response regulator gene contained in the Streptococcus pneumoniae strain NCIMB
 40794. 18. A composition comprising the response regulator polypeptide of any of claims 1, 7, 8, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or
 17. 